Ajax beat NEC (1-2) and climbs to eight

Ajax have continued their good form in the Eredivisie. John van 't Schip's side beat NEC 2-1 thanks to goals by the Icelandic Kristian Hlynsson and the Portuguese Carlos Forbs. Elayis Tavsan brought some excitement back to the match with a goal in the last minute.

Ajax climbed to eight due to the win and will play the rest of their match against RKC on Wednesday, where the Amsterdammers are leading 3-2 in the 85th minute. The game was suspended on the 30th of September after RKC goalkeeper Ettienne Vaessen lost consciousness after a duel with Brian Brobbey.

Van 't Schip made two changes compared to the side that lost 4-3 to Olympique Marseille in the Europa League. Ar'jany Martha and Hlynsson were given a starting place, Borna Sosa and Forbs were on the bench. Josip Sutalo was absent at centre back. The Croatian did take a spot on the bench as he has just recovered from an injury. Devyne Rensch took his spot next to Jorrel Hato.

The first big chance of the match was for the home side when Sontje Hansen cut into the penalty area from the right-hand side, but Koki Ogawa came up just short of connecting to his cross. Ajax went on the offensive after this. Steven Bergwijn shot the ball just across Jasper Cillessen's goal. Cillessen also made a good save to stop a Brian Brobbey header just after the half-hour mark before stopping Steven Berghuis from scoring.

Sutalo returned to the side after halftime for the first time in just under a month. He replaced the Dane Anton Gaaei. The first danger came from Kenneth Taylor, whose shot was punched out for a corner by Cillessen. The NEC keeper could not stop Brobbey from dribbling past him after winning a battle with Bram Nuytinck and crossing to Hlynsson, who only had to tap it home from close range.

The slight lead was becoming a hard one to keep for Ajax. NEC forced Ajax back, although it did not lead to any chances of note. A goal from the substitute Forbs looked to have decided the game after 88 minutes. The Portuguese winger scored his first goal in the Eredivisie from close range after an assist from Berghuis. Tavsan made it 1-2 in the 90th minute, but NEC did not get any further than that.